1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to processing of information within computer systems, and more particularly to restoring data to target computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The process of restoring or transferring data to a computer system is often problematic. Problems frequently arise, for example, with respect to updating system configuration settings (e.g., registry keys in a computer system with a MICROSOFT™ WINDOWS™ operating system). One such problem may arise if the “target” computer system (that is, the computer system on which data is to be loaded as part of a restore/transfer process) has different hardware, etc. from the “source” computer system, as different device drivers may be needed on the target computer system relative to those used on the source computer system. New devices on the target computer system frequently require configuration settings to be updated relative to the configuration settings on the source computer.
The installation of a device driver on the target computer system may be performed using an operating system such as a “utility” operating system. The utility operating system may install the device driver in such a way that the complete corresponding set of changes that need to be made to the target operating system's registry is not apparent. (For example, the relevant driver information file cannot easily be processed to manually create the corresponding configuration setting updates.) This deficiency is particularly glaring for relative configuration settings (i.e., configuration settings that are set relative to other configuration settings, such as relative registry keys in a MICROSOFT™ WINDOWS™ operating system). Furthermore, the manner in which driver information files is processed may vary over time (e.g., with different target operating system versions), further complicating the task of achieving accurate and complete configuration setting updates.
A related problem occurs in a setting in which it is desired to update configuration settings in deploying a given piece of software to a large number of client machines.
An improved approach for updating configuration settings during restore/transfer procedures is therefore desired.